The war on cancer
Big is beautiful
PHOENIX, ARIZONA
In oncology（肿瘤学）, the proper study of mankind may not be man, but other animals
from: The Economist-2019-6-29
In 1977 Richard Peto, an epidemiologist at Oxford University, observed a contradiction. Cancer begins as a mutation in a single cell. Organisms with more cells should therefore have a higher risk of developing it. Elephants, which have 100 times as many cells as human beings do, should swarm with malignancies. Whales, with ten times more again, should be barnacled with tumours. In fact, the planet’s behemoths are blessed with extremely low rates of cancer. Titanic bodies and tumour resistance have evolved in tandem. The secret of suppressing cancer may therefore be hidden in the genes of giants.
本段核心：A contradiction: titanic bodies and tumour resistance. 巨大体型和癌症免疫(Cancer begins as a mutation in a single cell. Organisms with more cells should therefore have a higher risk of developing it....In fact, the planet’s behemoths are blessed with extremely low rates of cancer.)从而，作者提出抑制癌症的秘密藏于大型动物的基因里。
epidemiologist n. 流行病学家 epidemic n. ①流行病；②泛滥
mutation n. （生物物种的）变异，突变
organism n. 生物
swarm with malignancies/be barnacled with tumours 满是肿瘤
swarm vi. 成群地来回移动 swarm with sb/sth: to be full of people or things 到处是人（或物）；挤满
malignancy n. 恶性肿瘤[同]=tumour
behemoth n. 巨兽，庞然大物 *在政经类的文章中，这个词也经常出现，表示“巨头（指规模庞大、实力雄厚的公司或机构）”（表示在本文后面还会出现同类替代词）
be blessed with 幸运地享有
in tandem: a thing that works or happens in tandem with sth else works together with it or happens at the same time as it 并行；并驾齐驱；同时实行
tandem 双人自行车
suppress cancer 抑制癌症
Inspired by Peto’s paradox, as this contradiction has come to be known, researchers are exploring rates of cancer and resistance to cancer in thousands of animal species, with an emphasis on heavyweights. Their hope is to translate the animals’ cancer-fighting talents into treatments for people.
核心：研究员们在通过对这种矛盾现象的调查，试图把动物的抗癌天分转化成致癌手段。
heavyweight n. 特别重的人（或物） 还可以指有影响力的人（或组织、事物）
In one recent study, published in Molecular Biology and Evolution and entitled “Return to the sea, get huge, beat cancer”, Marc Tollis of Northern Arizona University and his colleagues sequenced the genome of the humpback whale and began trawling through it for tumour-suppressor genes. Previous research had revealed that, around 50m years ago, creatures which looked something like a cross between a rat and a wolf dog-paddled into the sea and eventually evolved into whales. These animals remained fairly small until about 3m years ago. Then they rapidly ballooned into whoppers the size of buses.
核心：一项研究表明 “Return to the sea, get huge, beat cancer”
sequence v. (biology 生) to identify the order in which a set of genes or parts of molecules are arranged 测定（整套基因或分子成分的）序列
humpback whale 座头鲸
trawl through sth. for sth./sb.: to search through a large amount of information or a large number of people, places, etc. looking for a particular thing or person 查阅（资料）；搜集，搜罗，网罗（人或物）
tumour-suppressor genes=上段的cancer-fighting talents
dog-paddle 狗爬式（游泳）
whopper n. 庞然大物
The benefits of growth
Dr Tollis found that as ancestral whales grew, numerous alterations to their tumour-suppressor genes hopped on board. He and his colleagues identified 33 known tumour-suppressing genes in humpback whales that showed evidence of advantageous changes. These included ATR, which detects damage to DNA and halts the cycle of cell division that cancer-promoting mutations encourage; AMER1, which stifles cell growth; and RECK, which reins in metastasis, the tendency of cancer cells to peel off their natal tumour and wander around the body looking for other sites to colonise. Humpback whales also have duplications in genes that promote apoptosis, the process that commands mutated cells to commit suicide. All this suggests that the evolution of gigantism in cetaceans is associated with strong selective pressure in favour of genes that conquer cancer.
核心：接着上一段的研究发现 33 种已知的座头鲸体内所含的抗癌基因,包括ATR, AMER1, RECK。座头鲸还可以复制促进细胞凋亡的基因。→The evolution of gigantism in cetaceans is associated with strong selective pressure in favour of genes that conquer cancer.
hop on board 出现
halt v. （使）停止，停下=stifle v. 压制；扼杀；阻止；抑制
rein in 本意用缰绳勒马，喻指止住；严格控制，加强管理
metastasis |məˈtæstəsɪs| n. (medical 医) the development of tumours in different parts of the body resulting from cancer that has started in another part of the body （瘤）转移
peel off 去皮，离群; 剥落
natal adj. 先天的
colonise vt. 开拓殖民地，移民于殖民地
apoptosis |ˌæpə'təʊsɪs| n. [细胞]凋亡
gigantism n. 巨人症
cetacean n. 鲸目动物
be associated with 与…有关
conquer cancer 抗癌
Cancer biologists are familiar with ATR, AMER1and RECK because people have them too. But whales may also harbour tumour-fighting genes unknown to science. The next step is therefore to irradiate laboratory-grown lines of whale cells, in order to encourage cancer-causing mutations and thus find out which genes become active in an attempt to clamp down on those mutations. The eventual goal is to discover which strategies whale genes use to combat cancer. Researchers will do this by transferring whale genes into human cell lines, zapping those cells with radiation, then seeing if the whale genes attempt to repair the DNA damage—as human genes often do—or opt for the often more effective method of triggering apoptosis.
核心：找到鲸鱼体内尚未为人知的抗癌基因，从而探索出鲸鱼是怎么抵抗癌症的。
irradiate v. 使…遭受;大量辐射 If someone or something is irradiated, they are exposed to a large amount of radioactivity.
clamp down on 压制，取缔
combat cancer=conquer cancer
cell lines 细胞系：指原代细胞培养物经首次传代成功后所繁殖的细胞群体。 也指可长期连续传代的培养细胞。
zap sb/sth (with sth): to destroy, kill or hit sb/sth suddenly and with force （突然而猛烈地）毁坏，杀死，打击
opt for v. 选择
Similar studies are already being done using cancer-fighting proteins from another group of giants—elephants. These have a cancer-mortality rate of about 5%, compared with 11-25% in human populations. Some participants in the whale study were previously involved in sequencing African and Asian elephant genomes. They found that an important weapon in the elephants’ arsenal is TP53, a gene that encodes an apoptosis-inducing protein called p53. This protein is known colloquially as “the guardian of the genome”.
核心：类似的实验在大象身上也已做过，大象体内的抗癌武器是TP53基因，其可以编码一种诱导细胞凋亡的蛋白p53。
cancer-mortality rate 癌症死亡率
genome n. 基因组
colloquially |kəˈləʊkwiəl| adv. 用白话，用通俗语;
Human beings have two copies of TP53 in their chromosomes—one from each parent. Those in whom one of these does not work manifest a condition called Li-Fraumeni syndrome, and are almost certain to develop cancer. Elephants’ chromosomes, by contrast, sport 40 versions of TP53—part of the explanation, surely, of why elephant tumours are so rare.
核心：人体内与大象体内的TP53的数量对比，也是大象很少患癌症的一种解释。
Li-Fraumeni syndrome 李法美尼症候群，癌症的一个分类病症，主要是一个抑癌基因p53的缺失，引起家族性各种不同癌症的发生
chromosome |ˈkrəʊməsəʊm| n. 染色体
sport v. 引人注目地穿戴;炫耀 If you say that someone sports something such as a distinctive item of clothing, you mean that they wear it without any shyness.
Joshua Schiffman, a paediatric oncologist at the Huntsman Cancer Institute in Utah who was involved in the elephant study, is investigating how elephants’ multiple copies of tp53 co-ordinate an attack on mutated cells. He is also studying how slight differences in the composition of elephant p53 make it a more efficient mutant-cell killer than its human counterpart. The power of elephant p53 led Dr Schiffman to co-found PEEL Therapeutics, based in Utah and Israel (the firm’s name is derived from the Hebrew word for elephant). PEEL’s purpose is to translate discoveries in comparative oncology into human patients. The firm’s researchers are experimenting with minuscule lipid spheres loaded with proteins, including synthetic elephant p53. Their most promising experimental drug is designed to deliver this directly to a patient’s tumour cells. Details are still under wraps, but Dr Schiffman says that, in a laboratory, introducing synthetic elephant p53 to human cancer cells induces “incredibly rapid and robust cell death”.
核心：研究大象体内众多的TP53如何共同攻击变异的基因，以及大象体内p53构成的细微差异如何引起抑癌巨变。
paediatric |ˌpi:diˈætrɪks| adj. 儿科的
oncologist 肿瘤学家
minuscule adj. 非常小的，极不重要的
lipid n. <生化>脂质
under wraps 保密；隐藏
